A Teacher's Thoughts on Common Core

I teach the Common Core.  I technically teach to the test (but I try to throw some more substance on that core).  No, it's not the best solution, and no, I'm not the biggest fan of national testing, but you know what?  I've decided that at this moment in my life I'm going to push my dislike out of my head.

Yes, I know, the worst things happen when good people do nothing (or whatever that saying is), but here's the thing: the more I hate on common core, the more the hate becomes ingrained in my head.  The more the hate becomes ingrained in my head, the more likely it is to come out when I'm talking to my students.  The more it comes out when I talk to my students, the more likely they will be to decide that school is a waste of time because of stupid legislation and just stop trying.  And I don't want that to happen.

Common Core DOES have good sides.  It can be very helpful for first-time teachers who have no idea what curricula they should be teaching for their classes.  It states very clearly what is expected, what vocab words you should use, when you can stop for testing, and all that jazz.  As a first-time teacher I can attest to the fact that we need all the help we can get.  I flounder sometimes even WITH the common core; I can't imagine what I would be like if I had no skeletal structure to go off of.

I can't attest for the other subjects, but I know that in science, at least, your students are learning a lot of good things.  Common Core asks students to explain answers deeper, defend their arguments, analyze charts and graphs, and search for reliable sources.  It covers everything that I remember learning in high school courses when Common Core was just a pipe dream.

Maybe you're better than me.  Maybe you can fight Common Core in your local government and then turn around to your kid and say that school is awesome and they should keep working hard and trying.  If you're not better than me though...what they hear you say affects them.  Most adolescent opinions are formed from listening to their parents.  If you think they're learning nothing in school THEY will think they're learning nothing in school and they'll tune off.  If you think their math is far too difficult THEY will think their math is too difficult and they'll give up and zone out.  This makes it all the more difficult for teachers like me who are trying our darnest to get students excited about learning.  

So yeah, I'll nod my head in agreement when you start railing on the national standards, but I'd rather not talk about it at all.  I'd rather try my best to be a good teacher, and there is SO much more to being a teacher than knowing your content.